Paul McCartney Calls for Ban on "Medieval" Chinese Wet Markets

He also compared the practice to slavery

Photo: Dana Zuk

BY Allie GregoryPublished Apr 14, 2020

Animal rights activist Paul McCartney has called for a ban on all Chinese wet markets while blaming the meat and produce trade posts for the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking with Howard Stern in a new interview, the former Beatles star also called the practice of Asian live animal markets "medieval," comparing their activities to slavery.

"I really hope that this will mean the Chinese government says, 'Okay guys, we have really got to get super hygienic around here.' Let's face it, it is a little bit medieval eating bats," McCartney said in the interview. "I understand that part of it is going to be: people have done it forever, this is the way we do things. But they did slavery forever, too. You've got to change things at some point."

He continued: "It wouldn't be so bad if this is the only thing it seems like you can blame on those wet markets. It seems like SARS, avian flu, all sorts of other stuff that has afflicted us… and what's it for? For these quite medieval practices. They need to clean up their act. This may lead to [change]. If this doesn't, I don't know what will."

While epidemiologists generally believe that bats are indeed the cause of coronavirus, so far, no proof has emerged that any Asian wet market was the source of transmission to a human host.

According to the department of microbiology head at Melbourne's Monash University, Stephen Turner, it remains inconclusive if Wuhan wet markets were responsible for the spread of coronavirus.

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